Camera Settings

The Options->Camera Settings menu command opens the Camera Settings window, from where most program options
can be set.

The Camera Settings window is divided into six tabs.

The three tabs on the left are: Main, Motion Tracking and Scheduling. These tabs show the settings for the selected Camera. The three tabs on the right, General, Email and FTP, have the global settings that affect all cameras.

Main Tab

URL

Before displaying a camera video feed inside Camera Sentry, it is required to configure it in the Main tab. The principal setting is the camera URL, that tells Camera Sentry how to connect to your camera. Learn how to configure the camera URL.

Label

This is the title that will identify each camera.

Flip

The video feed can be flipped horizontally and/or vertically.

Zoom

This is the default zoom value that will be applied when the camera is opened.

Open automatically

If this option is selected, the camera will start automatically when Camera Sentry runs.

Color

Different information can be shown over the video feed. The color for each item of information can be set here.

Video

If Upload all recordings to FTP Server is selected, each time a video recording is finished, it will be uploaded to the FTP Server.

FPS

The frames per second of the video feed can be specified here. If FPS=0, the default camera FPS will be used. Otherwise, this value will set the camera FPS. Use values lesser than 1 to show less than one frame per second (for example, to show one frame each 2 seconds, write 0.5).
If the value is bigger than the maximum FPS supported by the camera, it will not be taken into account.

The camera will take several seconds, more if the FPS is low, until it starts running at the specified FPS.

Scheduling Tab

All running cameras (cameras already opened) can be scheduled to perform different tasks:

Start Recording

Stop Recording

Take Snapshot

Motion ON

Motion OFF

Close Camera

Close Program

Each scheduling task should have a time and day for starting and ending.

General Tab

Alarm Interval

This prevents the Sound Alarm from starting until the minimum time (in seconds) is elapsed after that previous Sound Alarm.

Inactivity Record

This is the number of seconds that the video recording will continue after motion is no longer detected.

Video CODEC

FMP4 is the preferred CODEC. MJPG and DIVX are supported as well. You are free to try another codecs.

Motion Frame Size

Any number other than 0 will reduce the captured video frames to the indicated width, before tracking motion, to reduce processing time.
This setting will NOT be applied to running cameras. Close and reopen any running cameras to make it valid.

File Sorting

This settings changes the video/snapshots sorting when they are displayed by selecting the View -> Videos or View -> Snapshots menu command. The default setting is Backwards, which means that newer videos/snapshots will be displayed to the left.

Vertical Space

When running cameras are arranged by the Cameras -> Arrange menu, this settings regulated the vertical separation between cameras. Change its value only if the cameras overlap or are unduly separated.

Show FPS

If selected the Frames per Second of the camera will be shown on the right bottom of the video feed.

Show Date & Time

If selected the Date & Time will be show in the video feed are also appear in snapshots and recorded videos.

Show Motion Info

If this option is checked, the Threshold and Object Size values will be shown over the camera video feed. That helps users to see the values generated by different scenes, and configure the cameras appropriately.

Alarm Sound

The default sound file will appear here. If you want to use another WAV Sound file, select it by clicking the Browse button.

Home Folder

By default the Home Folder is the same the the user's Home Folder.

A folder named CameraSentry will be automatically created inside the Home Folder; this folder will hold several subfolders. Each camera will have its own subfolder inside the Capture folder, to hold its snapshot/video recordings:

The menu command View -> Main Capture Folder will open the Capture folder in the default file manager.

Email Tab

This tab configure the email. Filling its options is only need if you select the Send Email Notification in the Motion Tracking tab.

FTP Tab

Only the full versions can upload recorded videos by FTP, the evaluation version cannot do that. You only need to fill this tab if you select Upload Video to FTP Server in the Motion Tracking tab or Upload all recordings to FTP Server in the Main tab.